Friday Video on Monday: Downtown Fort Worth - Sundance Square

First, here is Jerry Rubin's and River Oaks' vision for downtown El Paso:

"'Demolition of a building at San Antonio and Mesa in Downtown is underway. It's one of five buildings River Oaks Properties is demolishing on a Downtown block for possible future development. Preservationists had tried to get the city to stop the demolitions because they said the buildings are historically important for El Paso.' ( Rudy Gutierrez—El Paso Times)"

Here's another:

Oops - sorry that was the aftermath of a demolition fire at the historic First National Bank Building - a property owned by River Oaks.

See KVIA's raw video footage of the demolition of a building on San Antonio. That demolition violated construction rules. The demolition company working for River Oaks will be slapped with a (don't fall out of your seats now) whopping $1700 fine. (Chump change.)

You be the judge. Here's a ahhh lovely River Oaks development, another strip mall, the El Dorado Plaza:

Here's the Trost's John Muir Building, an architectural gem not a tacky strip mall (now demolished):

With some work the John Muir building could have been restored just as the Mulligan/Luther building now has been for the City of El Paso:

Now (finally) watch the video and imagine what could be if love for community, civic duty and pride for our heritage win out over greed:




And do visit Sundancesquare.com. This is what can be in El Paso. We deserve it. Not this, River Oaks.